Communication, Transmission, Communion ⛩ | The Art of Journey

A first silhouette: that of an elegant, masked figure, anonymous but universal. A second, much more imposing one: that of the mountain and its summit; that breach, haunting us, calling us. This is the starting point for Journey, an adventure game developed by thatgamecompany (flOw, Flower, Sky) and featuring an elegant score by Austin Wintory (Assassin's Creed Syndicate, Abzû, The Pathless).

The "trigger" for this analysis was a memory I had of a quote by Carrie Floyd: ‘It's a game about communication’. For me, communication was illustrated musically by the way each soloist (cello and flute(s)) appropriated the musical phrases through its own articulation, its own ‘bow’. I had had this idea in mind for quite some time, but I hadn't yet written anything concrete about Journey. And then, while working on my first video on GRIS, I needed a few seconds of gameplay from Journey's last chapter; I took the opportunity to play it again in its entirety, and seeing the ancestors tell me their story, hearing the jellyfish laugh and the whales greet me, it didn't take long to write this analysis. It's not always that simple!

🎤 This video is also available in French (published on December 7, 2024; the French version has some minor corrections and additions) ▶️    • Communication, Transmission, Communion ⛩ |...  

🎞 All the "one-shot" analyses ▶️    • ONE-SHOTS 🎯 (EN)  

#Journey, #thatgamecompany, #AustinWintory, #videogameisart

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📔 I NEED A PLAN!

00:00:00 Introduction
00:02:42 1 · Transmission & Life | Several stories, several scales || The ancestors' story
00:03:29 | Several stories, several scales || The scenario
00:05:40 | Several stories, several scales || The player's story
00:06:47 | Transmision || Write and draw to remember
00:09:11 | Transmision || Learning: the music (structure)
00:12:12 | When warning gives way to life
00:15:29 2 · A character who discovers a world they're a part of | An ephemeral existence
00:19:46 | A character who's part of the world || Two planes?
00:20:12 | A character who's part of the world || Colors
00:21:14 | A character who's part of the world || Sounds: chirping
00:22:48 | A character who's part of the world || A fabric
00:24:10 | The discreet humanization of an "anonymous" character || Appearance - animation
00:25:52 | The discreet humanization of an "anonymous" character || Restraint and intensity
00:33:11 | The discreet humanization of an "anonymous" character || The scarf
00:33:54 3 · Communion | Solemnity || A character who's listening
00:37:53 | Solemnity || Codes, in the game and outside the game
00:39:50 | Music || Instrumentation
00:45:24 | Music || A counterpoint in the image of the growing bond with the creatures
00:52:19 | Communion takes over || A physical and temporal isolation...
00:58:35 | Communion takes over || ...Which gives way to communion
01:13:26 4 · Language & Communication | Symbols
01:16:50 | An omnipresent language that disappears when communication becomes a necessity
01:18:27 | Our own language returns
01:20:29 Credits ❣️ Thank you for watching!

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🎥 OTHER LINKS/CREDITS

▶️ The maps from the levels were made by Qtzl3000 and were found on the new Journey wiki: https://journey.fandom.com/wiki/Chapt...) (similar OOB pages for each chapter)
▶️ The different "alphabets" and the glyphs are also from the new Journey wiki: https://journey.fandom.com/wiki/Symbols ; the wiki also has wonderful screenshots from the community.
▶️ The early concept arts for the player character (from the official artbook) were found on the old Journey wiki: https://journey-archive.fandom.com/wi... but then I found a larger version here: https://www.neoseeker.com/journey/con...
▶️ The gate concept art (from the official artbook too) was found on the same website (neoseeker)
▶️ For once I didn't have to worry about the scores since I used the "As Noted" series by Austin Wintory himself:    • As Noted  

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